Autumn Bedevils Illinois

Injuries, Calls, Bad Breaks Put Bowl In Jeopardy

Tuesday was Halloween, but for Illinois the scariest days lie just ahead.

A black cat walking under a ladder on Friday the 13th is luckier than coach Ron Turner's Illini have been this season.

Key injuries, questionable rulings by officials and their own inability to overcome bad breaks and make their own luck . . . Illinois (4-4, 1-4) has endured them all in dropping four of its last five games.

The only way the Illini can become bowl eligible is by winning two of their last three games. A loss to Indiana Saturday wouldn't eliminate them from bowl contention, but shaking off what would be their fifth defeat in six games to beat No. 16 Ohio State and No. 21 Northwestern back-to-back would be a difficult feat.

Turner, however, has been too busy to worry about such scenarios. Since last weekend's heartbreaking 14-10 loss to Michigan State, he has given struggling quarterback Kurt Kittner a much-needed pep talk, phoned Big Ten supervisor of officials Dave Parry to protest another referee's ruling and begun bracing for Saturday's must-win game with the Hoosiers and super-slippery quarterback Antwaan Randle El.

Turner's take on Kittner's poor performance against the Spartans (13-for-29 for 104 yards and two interceptions)? Human beings have bad days.

"We had a real good talk," Turner said. "He'll be fine. He was just off. I've never seen an athlete who wasn't just off at some point. I've seen Tiger Woods go 5 over for a round. I've seen guys like Reggie Miller go 2-for-20 shooting. But he'll bounce back this weekend and perform well, I'm very confident. . . . He didn't have a good game all the way through. I just think he missed some throws early and started aiming the ball. That's pretty typical, but you can't do that."

"What made me mad is I know how I can play and what I'm capable of," Kittner said. "You have expectations of how you want to play and I didn't meet those last weekend. We were a play or two away from winning that game and I didn't make them. But I'm going to work extra hard this week and do what I need to do to get back to normal."

Turner was more upset about an incomplete pass call by the officials that went against Illinois than he was about Kittner. A different ruling might have changed the outcome, but Turner chose his words carefully so as not to incur a $10,000 fine.

Early in the fourth quarter a pass by Michigan State quarterback Jeff Smoker went in and out of Herb Haygood's hands in the backfield. Illinois linebacker Jerry Schumacher picked up what Turner believed should have been ruled a fumbled lateral.

"I was standing right next to the official," Turner said. "I had the same view he did. We both watched it and had different opinions--and one of them was right and one of them wasn't."

Illinois has played better than it's 1-4 Big Ten record indicates, but Turner won't show up for Saturday's game dressed as the grim reaper.

"It's an important game for both of us," he said. "We need to get a win. There is a lot of football to be played. We just have to learn how to win close games. . . . We've lost four. If we make a play or two or get a call or two we easily could have won two or three of those. . . . It's a combination of things. We're not making the plays and we're not getting the calls either."